St. John wins OT thriller

• By ROBIN FAMBROUGH
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Nov 7, 2009

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EDGARD — There are times when a high school football game is decided by a little thing. Like an extra-point kick.

Eighth-ranked West St. John learned that lesson the hard way Friday night as top-ranked St. John rallied from a 21-point deficit to take a 28-27 overtime victory.

Connor Case’s PAT kick in overtime was the winning margin that gave the Eagles (9-1, 5-0) the win and the District 8-1A title in the game played at West St. John.

“I think you probably saw two of the best teams in 1A,” St. John coach Tut Musemeche said. “They looked real good in the first half and then we played great in the second half. Then there was overtime.”

Josh Johnson, who caught the game-tying 15-yard touchdown pass in overtime, finished with 97 yards on 17 carries for the Eagles. Michael Martinez completed 4-of-7 passes for 74 and two TDs.

Dray Joseph completed 13 of 20 passes for 242 yards and two TDs to pace West St. John (6-4, 4-1). Kenny Dabney had five catches for 166 yards and a score for the Rams.

“We couldn’t get anything going in the second half,” West St. John coach Robert Valdez said. “We turned the ball over and had penalties. We missed a kick in the first half and had one blocked in overtime. Those things come back to bite you.”

Dabney figured in all three first-half scores for the Rams, who scored on their first three possessions. WSJHS took the opening kickoff and drove 76 yards in 12 plays.

A 21-yard pass from Joseph to Dabney powered a five-minute march. Dabney scored on a 3-yard run and Steven Brignac booted the extra point, giving WSJHS a 7-0 lead with 6:52 left in the first quarter.

The Rams scored again after a SJHS punt. A 47-yard Joseph-to-Dabney hook-up paved the way for Joseph’s 7-yard TD pass to Jairus Moll. Dabney ran for the two-point conversion, making it 15-0 with 1:39 to go in the first quarter.

It only took 17 seconds for West St. John to get its last first-half TD. Dabney caught an 85-yard TD pass from Joseph, making it 21-0 with 8:20 left in the first half.

Momentum shifted in the second half. The Eagles took the kickoff and drove 58 yards in 1:13. Johnson had runs of 18 and 23 yards along the way and scored on an 8-yard run that made it 21-7.

“Coach (Musemeche) told us we were going to win and we believed it,” Johnson said. “We’ve been down before. We just had to make plays.”